U.S. President Barack Obama uses his state of the union address Tuesday to deal with gun control, energy, education and immigration,

U.S. President Barack Obama, facing a divided Congress, delivers his state of the union address at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. Facing a divided Congress, Obama focused his speech on new initiatives designed to stimulate the economy and discussed gun control.

WASHINGTON—U.S. President Barack Obama fixed like a laser on middle-class revival Tuesday night, framing the restoration of the American Dream as the centrepiece of his second-term agenda.

In a panoramic state of the union address, Obama used the annual ritual of a joint session of Congress to tout new drawdowns in Afghanistan, a healing housing market and ambitious plans for high-technology, infrastructure investment, education, energy, climate, immigration and gun control as central to shared recovery.

And Obama did it with a vow of revenue-neutrality — pledging to work with Republicans to build a “fully paid-for” budget that “replaces reckless cuts with smart savings and wise investments … without the brinksmanship that stresses consumers and scares off investors.”

Pointing to more than a decade of sliding wages and incomes, Obama said it is Washington’s task to “reignite the true engine of America’s economic growth — a rising, thriving middle class.

“It is our unfinished task to restore the basic bargain that built this country — the idea that if you meet your responsibilities you can get ahead, no matter where you come from, what you look like, or who you love.”

The Republican response fell to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who launched an alternate plea for middle-class revival, saying prosperity “isn’t bestowed by Washington, it comes from a vibrant, free economy.”

“As you heard, (Obama’s) solution to every problem we face is for Washington to borrow more, spend more and tax more,” said Rubio.

The president’s speech echoed the forward-leaning message Obama delivered during last month’s inaugural. But this time, the message came with new detail, adding policy flesh to rhetorical bone. Among the highlights:

Energy — A target to cut in half energy waste in homes and businesses over the next 20 years with new federal support to states “with the best ideas to create jobs and lower energy bills.”

Climate — In words certain to be parsed carefully in Ottawa, Obama made no mention of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

Instead, Obama warned that if Congress fails to pursue a “bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change,” he would explore a range of unspecified executive actions “to reduce production, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy.”

Education — Obama pledged to work with states to “make high-quality preschool available to every child in America” and issued a national challenge to redesign high schools for the demands of a high-tech economy.

“We’ll reward schools that develop new partnerships with colleges and employers and create classes that focus on science, technology, engineering and math — the skills today’s employers are looking for to fill jobs right now and in the future,” said Obama.

Infrastructure — Obama proposed a new Fix-It-First program to put people to work on urgent repairs “like the nearly 70,000 structurally deficient bridges across the country.” He also called for new incentives to attract private capital to upgrade business infrastructure, including ports, pipelines and schools.

Defence — Obama announced 34,000 U.S. troops would come home from Afghanistan over the next year, with the remainder to return by the end of 2014. He said new threats, including the rise of Al Qaeda affiliates in the Arabian Peninsula and Africa, would not require sending “tens of thousands of ours sons and daughters abroad,” but instead depend on helping allies in places such as Mali and, where necessary, “direct action” — a euphemism for special forces and unmanned drone strikes.

Obama offered a lone concession to the rising concerns over the secrecy and legality of America’s covert counter-terror operations, saying “I recognize that in our democracy, no one should just take my word that we’re doing things the right way.”

Instead, said Obama, he would more closely involve Congress to ensure “our efforts are even more transparent to the American people and to the world.”

Immigration — Obama set “a responsible pathway to earned citizenship” for illegal immigrants but offered little detail on how that would translate for the estimated 11 million undocumented people in the country. The route to legal status, he said, would require applicants to pass legal background checks, pay back taxes and learn English before taking their place in line behind others who have applied to legally move to America.

Gun Control — With shooting victim Gabby Giffords on one side and pro-gun fanatic Ted Nugent on the other — and a weeklong California manhunt for a rogue former LAPD officer coming to a climactic end in the hours leading up to the speech — Obama’s overture on gun control was long in coming, unspoken till the very end of the hour-long address.

But he put it all on the table — universal background checks, tough new laws to prevent anyone from buying guns for resale to criminals, and measures to answer the demands of police chiefs “trying to get weapons of war and massive ammunition magazines off our streets, because they are tired of being outgunned.”

Rather than speaking to Americans at this point, Obama instead turned to the politicians before him, saying, “Each one of these proposals deserves a vote in Congress. If you want to vote no, that’s your choice.

“But these proposals deserve a vote. Because in the two months since Newtown, more than a thousand birthdays, graduations and anniversaries have been stolen from our lives by a bullet from a gun.”

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